Bit of a breather after week of weather extremes

Residents of St. John's, NF dig out from the 40 cm of snow that fell over the weekend. (Photo Credit: Paul Daly, …

Winter looks 'normal' across most of the country again, after last week's big storm in the east and prior frigid temperatures in parts of the west. Spring isn't on the horizon quite yet, but it is likely a relief for many that Old Man Winter has returned to playing his usual favorites instead of putting on any big shows.

Newfoundland is bidding farewell to the tail end of the storm that dumped heavy snows from Ontario to the Maritimes, and dealing with some gusty winds that will shift their new snow around — some 22 cm in St. John's.

Further west and a few days removed from winter storm "Nemo", Southern Ontario gets a brief respite in the form of some above-freezing temperatures and a chance to melt some of the white stuff. This gift is double-edged, however, as temperatures dip below zero again tonight and the melted snow gets its revenge in the form of slippery roads.

January ended with some impressively cold Arctic air settled over Alberta, but a light west wind blowing today has put Calgary in the running to be one of the warmest spots in the country, rather than the coldest.

And not to be left out of the normalcy, Vancouver is mild but soggy as a Pacific storm pushes into the northern part of B.C.

So what of the next storm, dubbed 'Orko' by the U.S. Weather Channel? Well, we're in luck. While the storm is dumping impressive amounts of snow across parts of the Midwest - closing major highways, tangling air travel and threatening to deposit more snow on the Northeast later this week — it do most of its nasty work south of the border. Warnings for strong winds have been issued by Environment Canada for parts of Southern Ontario, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland for today and tomorrow, but Canadians (those not traveling south of the border, that is) should see relatively little impact from this one.

Let's enjoy the break ... before we get back to bracing for whatever might surface with the letter 'P'.

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